PARISH councils in many of North Somerset's villages are having to search for new land to bury their dead. Twenty churchyards in the district are full in villages including Hutton, Locking, Banwell, Worle, Uphill and Kewstoke and parishioners can't be bur

PARISH councils in many of North Somerset's villages are having to search for new land to bury their dead.Twenty churchyards in the district are full in villages including Hutton, Locking, Banwell, Worle, Uphill and Kewstoke and parishioners can't be buried under their home turf.North Somerset's churchyards are the responsibility of Bath and Wells Diocese until they are closed. It is then up to the parish council to find new land and the local authorities to maintain the closed churchyard. Yvonne Walter, church warden from St Augustine's Church in Locking, said: "We've been looking for a site for a few years, but we don't think there's any land available in the parish. It's a real problem. "Most people from the village are cremated now but burials can still take place at Weston Crematorium, although that's fast filling up too."The cemetery at St Mary's Church in Hutton is also full to the brim and Hutton Parish Council is in discussions with a landowner about buying a new site.Parish council clerk Andrew Basterfield said: "We had an approach from Banwell Parish Council saying they've got the same situation as us, how about joining forces with them and Locking to have a joint piece of land for a churchyard."We also thought we ought to be looking within our own parish for land available for the full use of Hutton parishioners, so people who die in Hutton, as opposed to being carted off to Weston, can be buried in the village if they so wish."So far this year, 1,510 deaths have been registered at Weston Register Office.